Automatic temple knife rest



May 21, 1957 E. P. cAsHloN EI'AL 2,792,850

AUTOMATIC TEMPLE KNIFE REST Filed Sept. 22, 1954 INVENTORS. EMERSON P.CA5H\ON By DEWEY FgwuLz ATTORNEY United States Patent AUTOMATIC TEMPLEKNIFE REST Emerson P. Cushion and Dewey Friddle, Greenville, S. C.Application September 22, 1954, Serial No. 457,581

7 Claims. (Cl. 139-266) This invention relates to looms and moreparticularly to an attachment for an automatic temple knife which willnormally retire or hold the temple knife in inoperative position butwhich will release the temple knife responsive to movement of theautomatic change mechanism of the loom to permit cutting operationsnecessary to sever the ends of yarn resulting during a bobbin changingoperation.

According to present practice the temple knife of a loom operatescontinuously by virtue of the lay striking the temple knife armactuating same on each beat-up of the loom. This causes constant wear tothe moving parts and often causes broken picks by reason of the knifecatching the filling during normal operation of the loom. This catchingof the filling resulting in broken picks occurs most often in the caseof synthetic fibers since this yarn tends to bunch up due to the highdegree of twist therein. This has resulted in the practice of placingmoleskin over the face of the temple knife support to prevent the yarnfrom coming close enough to be engaged by the temple knife.

Most modern looms employ what is known in the trade as a Stafford threadcutter which is actuated by and may be considered a part of theautomatic change mechanism. It is the function of the Stafford threadcutter to grasp the yarn coming from the empty bobbin and to cut thesame from the bobbin allowing the empty bobbin to drop into a canprovided for that purpose. In carrying out this operation the Staffordthread cutter employs two pairs of mechanical fingers for grasping theyarn. This grasping of the yarn by the Stafford thread cutter results inundue tension being placed on the filling causing, in the case ofsynthetic fabric, what are known as shiners. These shiners are a majorcause of seconds in the weaving of synthetic fabrics.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an attachmentfor an automatic temple knife which will normally cause the knife to beretired but which will place the knife in operative position during abobbin changing operation which will be automatically responsive toactuation of the automatic change mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment for anautomatic temple knife which can be adjusted to obviate thepossibilities of broken filling resulting from improper operation of thetemple knife.

It is another object of this invetion to provide a simple attachment foran automatic temple knife, the installation of which will not requireany change in the existing structure of the loom but which will preventbroken picks and eliminate shiners."

Still another object of this invention is to provide an attachment for aloom which will permit the cutting of the end from an empty bobbinduring a bobbin changing operation prior to the end being grasped by theStafford thread cutter preventing jerked in filling" or jerk backscaused by the pulling of the end back into the cloth. so

Patented May 21, 1957 that the Stafford thread cutter may be eliminatedif desired.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an attachment for anautomatic temple knife which normally holds the knife in inoperativeposition except during the bobbin changing operation when two cuttingoperations are permitted severing the ends from the empty bobbin and newbobbin and which is out of the way so as not to interfere with thenormal operation of the loom.

We accomplish these and other objects of our invention by providing anattachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom having automaticbobbin change mechanism comprising an arm adapted to be fixedlyconnected to the transfer rod, a shaft pivotally connected adiacent oneend to the free end of the arm, a bracket carried by the temple knifehousing in which the medial portion of the shaft is slidably positioned,a bifurcated portion carried by the free end of the shaft, a rollerelement rotatably mounted in said bifurcated portion, an elongatedresilient member mounted on one end of the temple knife housing beingsupported adjacent the other end by the roller element, a cam portionintegral with said resilient element adjacent the roller element, adownwardly projecting latch arm integral with said cam portion adaptedto hold said temple knife in inoperative position and an abutment aboveand adjacent the medial portion of said resilient element whereby, uponactuation of the automatic bobbin change mechanism the latch arm willfree the temple knife allowing it to be placed in operative position.

In addition to the above we have provided means for adjusting theposition of the pivotal connection between the arm and the shaft, meansfor vertically adjusting the position of the bracket, means foradjusting the position of the connection between the resilient elementand the temple knife housing and means for adjusting the pressureexerted by the abutment against the resilient element so thatadjustments may be easily made to place the temple knife in a positionto most effectively cut the yarn.

While some of the objects have been stated above others will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art relating to weaving when thespecification is read in connection with the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the attachment operatvelypositioned in connection with a temple knife,

Fig. 2 is a view of the front of the temple knife looking from the righthand side of Fig. 1 and,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the attachment holding the templeknife in inoperative position during the normal operation of the loom.

Referring more particularly to the drawing the numeral l0 broadlydesignates the temple of a model XK Draper loom. As will appear to thoseskilled in the art the attachment to be described below may be readilymodified to be employed with any loom having automatic bobbin changemechanism. The numeral 12 designates the transfer rod which operates theautomatic change mechanism, of which the Stafford thread cutter (notshown) may be considered as forming a part, responsive to the feelermechanism which operates on most automatic looms to actuate theautomatic change mechanism when an almost empty bobbin should bereplaced with a full bobbin. A bracket 14 is slidably mounted on atrackway 16 positioned on the upper surface of the temple 10 andsupports the automatic temple knife housing broadly designated at 20.

The housing 20 is provided with an extension 22 projecting rearwardly towhich a temple knife support 24 is fixedly mounted. The extension 22 ofthe temple knife housing 20 has a downwardly projecting buffer portion28 which limits the forward movement of the temple knife actuating arm30. It will be noted that the temple knife 32 is integral with theactuating arm 30 and fits within a slot 34 in the temple knife support24. A spring 36 which is secured on one end as at 37 to the temple knifesupport and on the other to a pin 38 fixedly mounted on the actuatingarm 30, normally urges the actuating arm 30 rearwardly and hence thetemple knife 32 upwardly in the drawing.

Fig. 1 shows a piece of cloth designated at C passing over the temple land over the shipper rod 49 which acts as a guide therefor. Figs. 1 and2 show a projecting fila ment or end of yarn designated at P which isattached to the empty bobbin (not shown) about to be cut by the templeknife 32 shown in operative position. Another filament designated at F(shown in broken lines in Fig. l) is the filament from the new bobbin,one end of which is attached to the battery head (not shown).

Fig. 3 shows the lay of the loom broadly designated at 46 and the partsof the temple knife arm 30 (shown in dotted lines) so positioned as tobe moved forwardly by the lay 46 on the next heat-up causing a downwardmove ment of the knife 32 to cut the end F a short time prior to itsbeing grasped by the Stafford thread cutter. The solid lines show thetemple knife 32 in retired position. Thus far the parts described andtheir operation are standard with most modern looms and there follows adescription of the attachment and of its operation therewith.

An off-set arm 48 is shown in the drawing removably secured to thetransfer rod 12. A portion 50 is removable and adapted to be secured tothe arm 48 by the screws 52 for the purpose of securing the off-set arm50 to the transfer rod 12 at a desired point depending upon the width ofcloth being woven. A set screw 54 is provided for preventing the off-setrod from turning on the transfer rod. Some looms have bearings (notshown) for the transfer rod 12 so positioned that it would be impossibleto secure the arm 48 at the end of the transfer rod 12 so as to weave amaximum width of cloth were it not for the off-set feature. At the upperor free end of he arm 48 a shaft 56 is pivotally secured adjacent itsfree end on a pin 60 projecting from a stub member 62 which isadjustably positioned on the shaft 56 as by set screws 62a. The shaft 56is slidably mounted in the medial portion thereof on a bracket 64. Thebracket 64 is adjustably secured to the temple knife housing 20 as bybolts 68 which pass through slots 66 which permit adjustment thereof.

The free end of the shaft 56 has an upwardly projecting bifurcatedportion 70 integral therewith. A pin 72 is fixedly mounted at each endthereof within the bifurcated portion 70 and a roller 74 rotatablycarried thereon. it should be noted at this point that a plate '76 maybe attached to the housing 20 by any suitable means such as screws 78for mounting the bracket 64 as well as the other parts of the attachmentthereon although the parts may be attached directly to the temple knifehousing 20. An elongated resilient element 80 is secured adjacent theforward end of the temple knife housing 20 as by the nut 82 which isthreaded on a bolt 820 secured to the plate 76. A slot 84 through whichthe bolt 82a projects is provided for adjusting the position of theresilient member 80 by loosening the nut 82 prior to effecting suchadjustment.

An eccentrically mounted abutment 90 is adjustably mounted on the plate76 on the screw 90a. It will be noted that the tension on the resilientmember 80 may be adjusted by loosening the screw 99a and turning theabutment 90 thereon to a position which will afford a desired amount ofpressure exerted thereby against the resilient member 80. If desired theabutment 90 may be in the form of a vertically mounted screw (not shown)which may be threaded in a projection carried by the plate 76. Thisprojection could be integral and stamped out with the rest of the plate.

A looped portion 88 integral with the resilient element 80 provides acam surface which is normally adapted to till fit over the roller asshown in Fig. 3 but when the transfer rod 12 is turned in acounterclockwise direction to effect a bobbin changing operation, theroller operates to raise the adjacent end of the member on which thelatch arm 92 depends forwardly and downwardly. it will be noted that acut out or latch portion 92b is provided for engaging the pin 38attached to the temple knife actuac ing arm 30 for holding the same inretired position. The terminal portion of the latch arm 92 is providedwith a curved surface 92c on which the pin 38 is adapted to ride priorto being engaged by the cut out portion 92b.

In operation, therefore, upon actuating of the automatic changemechanism the transfer rod 12 will turn counterclockwise raising thelatch 92 to place the temple knife 32 in operative position. On thefirst beat-up following this operation the end P from the old bobbin iscut (at the same time the empty bobbin is replaced with a full bobbin}and the transfer rod 12 returns in a clockwise direction to its normalposition. At this point the latch arm 92 has been lowered preparatory toengaging the pin 38 to retire the temple knife 32. On the next beat-upthe end P from the new bobbin is severed and the pin 38 engaged by thelatch portion 92b to retire the temple knife 32.

The timing of the above operations is such that the end P will besevered just before the Stafford thread cutter engages the end P fromthe empty bobbin and therefore, the Stafford thread cutter could beeliminated. If the Stafford thread cutter is eliminated a tall canshould be provided to catch the empty bobbin and the end attachedthereto. It should also be noted that the loom will be stopped if theStafford thread cutter does not operate on what is known in the trade asa false change since the end F will be cut by the temple knife 32 thuspreventing seconds due to a short pick.

While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been described usingspecific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, andit is to be understood that changes and variations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom havingautomatic bobbin change mechanism including a transfer rod, comprisingan elongated resilient clement fixed on one end remote from the templeknife, a latch arm carried by said resilient element adjacent the otherend thereof normally holding the temple knife in inoperative position,earn means actuated in response to rotation of the transfer rod forovercoming the resilience of the elongated resilient element therebyreleasing the temple knife from the latch arm permitting two cuttingoperations prior to its again being engaged by and returned toinoperative position by the latch arm.

2. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom havingautomatic bobbin change mechanism comprising a latch arm adapted toengage the temple knife normally holding same in inoperative position,an elongated resilient element on which the latch arm is carried. a camportion formed by a portion of said elongated resilient element, afollower engaging said cam portion and linkage means for moving saidfollower responsive to actuation of the automatic bobbin changemechanism for overcoming the resilience of the elongated resilientelement whereby, the temple knife is released by said latch arm uponactuation of the automatic bobbin change mechanism permitting twocutting operations of the temple knife prior to being returned toinoperative position.

3. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom havingautomatic bobbin change mechanism including a transfer rod comprising anarm adapted to be fixedly connected to the transfer rod, a shaftpivotally connected adjacent one end to the free end of the arm, meanssupporting the shaft intermediate its ends, an

greases anti-friction element carried adjacent the free end of theshaft, an elongated, resilient member fixedly mounted on one end of thetempl: knife housing and being supported adjacent the other end by theanti-friction element, a cam portion integral with said resilient memher and a latch arm integral with said cam portion adapted to hold saidtemple knife in inoperative position whereby, upon actuation of theautomatic bobbin change mechanism the anti-friction element will bemoved against the cam portion to cause the latch arm to free the templeknife allowing it to be placed in operative position.

4. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom having anautomatic bobbin change mechanism including a transfer rod comprising anarm adapted to be removably connected to the transfer rod, a shaftpivotally connected adjacent one end to the free end of the arm, meanssupporting the shaft intermediate its ends, an anti-friction elementcarried adjacent the free end of the shaft, an elongated, resilientmember mounted on one end on the temple knife housing being supportedadjacent the other end by the anti-friction element, a cam portionintegral with said resilient member, a latch arm integral with said camportion adapted to hold said temple knife in inoperative position and anabutment above and adjacent the medial portion of said resilient memberwhereby, upon actuation of the automatic bobbin change mechanism thelatch arm will free the temple knife allowing it to be placed inoperative position.

5. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom havingautomatic bobbin change mechanism including a transfer rod comprising anarm adapted to be removably connected to the transfer rod, a shaftpivotally connected adjacent one end to the free end of the arm, meanssupporting the shaft intermediate its ends, a bifurcated portion carriedby the free end of the shaft, a roller element rotatably mounted in saidbifurcated member, an elongated, resilient member fixedly mounted on oneend on the temple knife housing said resilient member being supportedadjacent the other end by the roller element, a cam portion integralwith said resilient member, a latch arm integral with said cam portionadapted to hold said temple knife in inoperative position, an adjustableabutment above and adjacent the medial portion of said resilient elementfor varying the pressure exerted by the resilient member against theroller element so that upon actuation of the automatic bobbin changemechanism the latch arm will free the temple knife allowing it to beplaced in operative position so as to permit a first cutting action ofthe temple knife to sever the end from the empty bobbin prior to itsbeing cut by the automatic bobbin change mechanism, and a curvedterminal portion integral with the latch arm adapted to act as a guideto facilitate the engagement of the temple knife by the latch arm aftera second cutting operation which serves to sever the end from the newbobbin.

6. An attachment for an automatic temple knife for a loom havingautomatic bobbin change mechanism including a transfer rod comprising anoff-set arm adapted to be removably connected to the transfer rod at anydesired point thereon, a shaft pivotally connected adjacent one end tothe free end of the arm, means for adjusting the point of pivotalconnection along the shaft, means supporting the shaft intermediate itsends, means for vertically adjusting the means supporting the shaft, :1bifurcated portion carried by the free end of the shaft, a rollerelement rotatably mounted in said bifurcated member, an elongated,resilient member adjustably positioned on one end on the temple knifehousing being supported adjacent the other end by the roller element, acam portion integral with said resilient member, a forwardly anddownwardly depending latch arm, having a curved terminal portion to actas a guide to facilitate engagement of the temple knife by the latch arminto inoperative position, an adjustable abutment above and adjacent themedial portion of said resilient member whereby, upon actuation of theautomatic bobbin change mechanism the latch arm will free the templeknife allowing it to be placed in operative position.

7. An attachment for an automatic temple knife as set forth in claim 6,including a plate adapted to be removably positioned on the temple knifehousing for carrying said resilient member, means for supporting saidshaft and said abutment.

1,214,385 Stimpson

